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Good News: First US State Officially Starts Accepting Bitcoin for Tax Payments

Since creating, Bitcoin has been catching profound interest of governments that have either taken a critical look at the digital coin and blockchain in general or supported it enthusiastically. Among the latter are the authorities of Ohio State, where Bitcoin is offered as a means to of paying state taxes starting from today.

According to the Ohio Treasurer’s website, twenty-three kinds of business taxes will be available for payment in crypto, including utility tax, sales tax, and employee withholdings. Businesses wanting to take part in the program simply need to go to OhioCrypto.com and register to pay all their corporate taxes in crypto. Companies operating in and paying taxes in Ohio are eligible — they don’t necessarily need to be headquartered in the state.

The Ohio authorities see cryptocurrencies asa  secure, transparent, and low cost means of payment:

“Cryptocurrencies cannot be transferred to third parties without user initiation, thereby practically eliminating fraud; Anyone can view all transactions on the blockchain network; payments on the blockchain can be tracked on a second-by-second basis; a minimal fee is charged to confirm transactions on the blockchain network.”

To process the payment, the Treasurer’s office of Ohio will use BitPay, the world’s leader in blockchain payment technology.

Ohio is the first state to accept tax payments in #Bitcoin via BitPay: https://t.co/NTcsNP2bbI Story from @jshieber

— BitPay (@BitPay) November 25, 2018

The initiative makes Ohio the first state and one of the first governments in the world to accept cryptocurrency. Currently, Bitcoin is the only currency accepted, however, “the Treasurer’s office looks forward to adding more cryptocurrencies in the future,” as the Treasurer’s Office states.

According to the Treasurer’s Office, they are “working to help make Ohio a national leader in blockchain technology,” which means that the state is looking to gain a reputation of a blockchain technology center. As the current state treasurer Josh Mandel said, the bitcoin program is intended to be a signal of the state’s broader ambitions to remake itself in a more tech-friendly image.

Last week, the crypto market experienced bloodbath and slipped below $120 billion, losing 40% over the last 12 days. Over the last week, Bitcoin lost almost 30 percent of its value. Yesterday morning, the digital coin declined to $3,447.58, the lowest level since August 2017. However, the news from Ohio contributed to Bitcoin’s recovery. Battered coin rose back toward $4,000 on Sunday. Currently, Bitcoin’s price makes up $3,956.

Other coins suffered as well. XRP price dropped by 23% over the last week and is currently trading at a price of $0.37 with a market cap of $15.08 billion, continuing its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency.

As for Ethereum (ETH), it lost 29% in price during last week and is currently trading at $114 per coin with a market cap of $11.79 billion. On Saturday, the third currency by market cap lost 14.9% of its price, making a new low for the year.

Good News: First US State Officially Starts Accepting Bitcoin for Tax Payments

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